Wildcat Tracks: Madi Koetting ’17
A love for journalism started here at Westminster for Drake University junior Madi Koetting. Not only is she a magazine media and public relations major, but Koetting is also editor-in-chief at Drake Mag in addition to being an editorial apprentice for Better Homes & Gardens.
“Around my sophomore year of high school, I found I wanted to study journalism because I loved to write, and to be honest I wasn’t very good at anything else!” she said. “I took newspaper my junior and senior years at WCA, which is where I realized that I wanted to make a career out of journalism.” Koetting says the English classes she took while in high school had a big impact on her. “The teachers cared about the material they taught in those English classes. My favorite class was with Mr. Gall who taught senior AP Literature. That class was always super fun—mostly because we procrastinated a lot during this class—but the material he chose for the class was really captivating. I still have the books we read in that class with me today.”
Making the move to magazines was motivated in part by the fact that Drake University offers a magazine major, which was appealing to Koetting since not many schools offer it.
“I knew I didn’t want to report the local news or do broadcast journalism because I wanted to do something more creative, so that’s why I initially chose the magazine industry,” Koetting said. “My first step in getting involved was to join Drake Mag—Drake University’s student-produced magazine. I was the assistant editor my freshman year, the managing editor my sophomore year, and going into junior year, I guess they trusted me enough to run the show, so now I’m editor-in-chief. I’m also an editorial apprentice for Better Homes & Gardens (BHG) at Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, which is super fun because I was always interested in interior design. Specifically, I work for the home design section at BHG and cover topics such as DIY home improvement and trends in the home design industry.”
Being a creative thinker, Koetting enjoys working with her team to discuss new concepts.”I really enjoy talking to people and coming up with ideas, so the social aspect of working at a magazine makes going to work more fun than simply just sitting in an office all day,” she said.
Looking forward, Koetting hopes to continue to be able to work in the career she has poured her heart into. “My absolute dream is to stay in the magazine business and work my way up the editor food chain. I would love to either stay at Better Homes & Gardens or work for another publication like Refinery 29, House Beautiful, or The Cut.”
This alumni spotlight was originally featured in the October 2019 issue of our alumni newsletter, Wildcat Tracks.
